


Let's Hear It For The Boy

by Godzillagroupie



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, Multi, Slow Burn, Trans Newt, hermann is bad at social media, kinda love simon au, no kaiju, vanessa is gay too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-19 14:43:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14875722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Godzillagroupie/pseuds/Godzillagroupie
Summary: Hermann is a senior in high school. Newt and Hermann meet on a STEM forum online (but their real identities are unknown). Their correspondences get pretty gay. When school starts in the fall there's a new kid going to Hermann's school and he's insufferable.





	1. frogthot is born

**Author's Note:**

> this is just the prologue of what is likely to be a very long fic ! i hope u enjoy (also i know i have the same username as newt in this dont @me......)

Hermann Gottlieb always found himself bored and unengaged when school ended. Every year he would mope around waiting for school to start up again. Despite his mopiness, he tried to find it in himself to at least build something. Math would be too tiresome at this point. He needed to move around some anyway. 

His father was a science teacher. Hermann was lucky in this regard because this meant the garage was a goldmine for engineers. In spite of his passion for physics Hermann was always drawn towards mechanical engineering. He liked having to plan everything. And having an end goal for his projects. As of now, his goal was simply to make anything before his senior year started.

His distraction only lasted about 4 days. Turns out he had more free time than he thought he would. That leaves 11 more weeks of summer. 11 more weeks of n o t h i n g to do.

Hermann only had one close friend. He always found making friends really difficult. Other people always lied about their thoughts and feelings. He figured it was always better to be honest with other people. He wasn’t sure at this point if that pushed people away from him or if he was the one who resisted relationships. Nevertheless, he was friends with Vanessa. She was confident and unafraid to speak her mind. She and Hermann went way back, and she knew him better than anyone else. Now was probably a good time to call her. 

She picked up almost immediately. “Hey, Hermann how’s it going?”

“I’m ridiculously bored,” he said. “I feel like I’m a stale potato chip.”

“Poetic as always. Also how are you already bored? It’s 4 days into summer. Oh whatever I’m on my way.” she hung up without waiting for Hermann’s reply. 

Hermann laid in bed and stared at the ceiling. Vanessa better save his life or else he’ll be too shriveled up by the end of summer. And god she was taking forever to get here. 

The doorbell rang and Hermann’s dad was there to answer. Hermann listened to their conversation from his room. 

“Hello Vanessa always wonderful to see you! What’s the occasion?”

“Your son is in shambles. Earlier he compared himself to a potato chip.” 

Mr. Gottlieb laughed heartily at that. “He’s in his room don’t worry.”

Vanessa thanked him and headed for Hermann’s room. She knocked lightly and announced she was coming in. Hermann turned over to put his face in his pillow and tried to look as miserable as possible. 

“Good god Hermann it’s like a cave in here. No wonder you’re miserable…” 

She was right. All his shades were drawn and his lights were off. The room was stagnant. Hermann groaned into the pillow. She was going to turn on the lights now he was sure of it. 

She pulled the blinds up first and cracked the window open. “You know Hermann,” she said, “being mopey isn’t helping you at all. Maybe you should make some more friends or something.”

Hermann turned his head and squinted against the sunlight. “We both know how well that goes for me. Besides, I have you so do I really need more.” The way he said that sounded like an insult. Vanessa wasn’t sure whether he meant it with love or not. 

She laughed anyway. “You’re being so dramatic. Please sit up so we can actually talk now though.”

Hermann groaned. He was secretly thankful for all her help when he got like this. He sat up and tucked his knees beneath his chin. Vanessa sat down on the bed across from him. 

“Here’s the plan,” she started. Thank god. Hermann always loved her plans. “So I recently found out about this forum hosted by high schools across America for STEM students. It’s really cool because you can interact with people who are your age and passionate about the same things as you, yanno? So let’s make an account.”

Hermann raised an eyebrow. “You’re really pushing this ‘new friends’ thing on me aren’t you.”

“I’m doing the lord’s work. We both know this. Anyway, your dad probably has all the details for signing up. You should really try it, Hermann. You might meet someone you like more than me.”

Hermann smirked. “Not likely but go ahead and try. It’s not like I’m gonna like anyone as much as my best friend of 5 years.” he coughed. Enough affection for today. 

Vanessa nodded understandingly. “Be right back.”

She figured Hermann would probably be okay for a couple minutes alone. At worst he’ll close his blinds again but that’s fine. His dad was sitting on the couch watching the news.

“Hey, Mr. Gottlieb, sorry to interrupt but I had a question about that high school STEM forum? Can we sign Hermann up?” 

“Its oka- wait did he actually agree to that? We both know how introverted he is.”

“Ehh, more or less agreed. Either way it’s happening.”

“Good enough for me. I’ll get you the laptop.”

 

Hermann stared at the registration screen in silence. He had to choose a username. This was already a nightmare.

“Vanessa I don’t know what my username should be.”

“I know. You’ve been stuck on that screen for 5 minutes. Let me choose it.”

Hermann looked up at her quizzically. She would probably choose something ridiculous. Maybe he was better off just making it his first and last name.

“Don’t you dare just make it your name. That’s boring. That’s something an accountant would do.” It was like she read his mind. 

“Fine you do it then. Leave accountants out of this. Their work is important.”

Vanessa giggled and swiped the laptop from him. She typed quickly and made sure to finish making the account for him. No changing the username for Hermann. 

She passed back the laptop with a shit-eating grin. Hermann furrowed his brows. “What is.. frogthot?”

Vanessa burst out laughing. She never would have expected Hermann Gottlieb to say the word ‘thot’ in her lifetime. 

“So it’s… its like - you like frogs right? So that’s the frog part and then thot.. Is harder to explain.”

“Vanessa, please what does it mean.”

Vanessa was having the time of her life.

“Vanessa, please what is thot?”

“God Hermann I don’t even know how to tell you this. It’s like a meme - like a joke on the internet - I guess it kind of means slut but not really?”

“Did you really make my username frogslut?”

“No, just very close to that.”

“But why would you do this?”

“It’s funny, Hermann. Trust me. You will be making friends with this username.”

Hermann sighed. He’s surprised they even got this far at all. If it were up to him he would’ve rather gone to the library today. Or be literally anywhere else doing anything else. “Okay fine. But what should I even post now?”

Vanessa smiled again. “Just write about yourself. Maybe mention being gay and lonely or something.”

Hermann’s cheeks flushed. This girl needed to shut up. “You -”

“Shut up you know I’m right. If you want I could write your post too.”

“No absolutely not I’m banishing you from ever doing anything like this for me ever again.”

She grinned again. “Okay understandable.” She stood up. “I’m gonna head out, if you’re all set? I have something to do so please don’t think I’m just abandoning you. However, if you have any more emergencies, my plans can wait.”

“I’ll be fine, please get the lights on the way out though?”

“Nah dude you need the light. You look like a vampire.”

Hermann smiled. She was right and he could only keep up the facade of wanting to be a loser for so long. 

“That’s what I like to see! Do that more often! Meet a cute boy!” She was still yelling encouragement at him as she left his house. “Bye, Mr. Gottlieb!”

Hermann felt warm but it very quickly faded when he realized he still had to make a post on this god forsaken website. He rubbed his eyes. He knew he wouldn’t be let off the hook at this point. 

He started typing:

“Hello, internet-”

Nope. That was far too cheesy. He started over.

“What’s up-”

He has never said that phrase in his life. Writing a post about anything should not be this hard. He picked up his phone.

“Hey Vanessa can you come back please.”

“I KNEW YOU NEEDED ME!”

 

Vanessa stared at the screen for a solid 5 minutes before she started typing. She took frequent breaks either to stare at Hermann or to just think about what to type. Hermann opened his mouth to speak.

“Ar-”

“No stop talking I’m trying to write.” 

Damn. Vanessa is really serious about this. 

5 more minutes passed in complete silence. Finally she looked her work over and sighed. “I think it’s done,” she said. “I tried to make it actually good this time. To make up for your username yanno.” she passed Hermann the laptop.

"The most important thing in my life has always been science. My father is a science teacher and his passion inspired me to continue pursuing STEM. I’m going to be a senior next year. I’ve been accepted by Technical University of Berlin and intend on majoring in engineering and applied science. 

This summer only started a few days ago and I’ve been more bored than I have been in my life. I’ve hit a new low in comparing myself to stale potato chips. My best friend whom I love and adore suggested I start posting here and try to meet like minded people. 

I would love to engage in conversation over any area of study. Right now I’m especially intrigued by theoretical physics and mechanical engineering (have you seen what’s going on with Iceland’s AI programs? Incredible!)

In joining today I look forward to forming new relationships and generating new ideas. I hope my contributions to the field change the world one day. And I hope to achieve this goal with you."

Hermann smiled. It was cheesy but it was true. Definitely said more succinctly than he could have ever said it. It was a little bit shorter than he anticipated considering it took 10 minutes to write, but all well. It was good.

“Vanessa I owe you my life for this post.”

“It’s not even that good did you read it? It’s literally so generic. I bet I made you sound like an asshole.”

“I would sound more like an asshole if I wrote this myself. You know how bad at writing I am.”

“Yeah I guess. I just hope no one gets scared off by it. You should try reaching out to people too.” Vanessa made the suggestion lightly. She knew he wouldn’t, unless he found someone he really liked.

Hermann shrugged it off. He felt exhausted even if they had only been at this forum business for a couple hours now. And he hadn’t even talked to anyone yet. 

He and Vanessa spent a little while scrolling through the feed. It was mostly filled with other students expressing a similar sentiment. “I’m so bored” or “help with this science problem” and the likes. He was surprised to see how many other people used the site at all. He had always assumed that people like him closed themselves off. Maybe they just never had an outlet like this before. Hermann was thinking too much into this. He shut down the laptop and bid farewell to Vanessa. He spent the rest of the day away from his computer, trying not to worry about getting responses to his post. The lack of notifications was starting to get to his head. Maybe everyone just assumed the other users on the site would reach out. What a cruel irony. 

Hermann headed to bed at 10. He expected to have another boring day tomorrow. Hey, at least he tried right? Whatever, he was tired and fell asleep easily. It was a problem for tomorrow. 

Until Hermann’s phone chimed at 3:30 AM. A message from the user _godzillagroupie._


	2. summer nights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermann and his new pen pal quickly grow close over the course of the summer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shout out to geiszlcr for proofreading

Hermann’s alarm went off at 8. He sighed and looked at his phone. There was a notification from the forum. _Oh great,_ he thought, _I wasn’t expecting a reply. I don’t know what to do with this._ Instead of opening the notification, he opted to avoid it entirely and hopped in the shower. After his shower he made some earl grey tea and ate an orange for breakfast.

 

He plopped himself down on the bed, still avoiding the message. He figured maybe if he ignored it long enough then it would go away. But that’s not how phones or messages work so he was stuck. He stood up and paced for a couple minutes to work off his nerves. Eventually, his leg starting screaming at him to sit back down. Hermann sighed. He couldn’t avoid it forever.

 

He put on his glasses and opened the notification. Several things stood out right away: 1) This person’s username was godzillagroupie. Hermann had never met a fan of the franchise, much less seen the movies, himself. 2) They sent the message at 3:30 in the morning. No one had any reason to be up that late.

 

Hermann combed his fingers through is hair and started reading:

 

“Dear frogthot,”

Oh god he had forgotten _that_ was his username.

“I really like your username it’s fucking golden. Just one question though? What’s your favorite type of frog? Mine’s the glass frog. It’s so fucking cool how you can see through their skin, yanno? But all amphibians deserve love honestly. Even the ugly ones. Actually? Especially the ugly ones. Anyway I’m getting distracted! I really liked the post you made. I think it’s really awesome to see other people who want to change the world, yanno? I guess I’ve been labelled as an idealist so it’s really really rad to see someone my age who has similar goals in life. It makes me think that maybe I’m not that much of an idealist.

 

Let me know if you want help saving the world.

 

\- godzillagroupie”

 

Hermann smiled. He appreciated the honesty of the message and found the sender’s enthusiasm endearing. He wished he could have that kind of energy about this.

 

Now came the hard part: replying. Hermann knew he certainly wanted to and they seemed nice enough that he shouldn’t have to worry too much. Besides if something went wrong he could always bail (to the chagrin of Vanessa, but she’ll live).

 

Hermann exhaled and hit reply. Then he just stared. His brain was entirely unwilling to produce any sort of coherent message. Godzillagroupie _had_ asked him a question about his favorite frog so he could start there.

 

“Dear godzillagroupie,

 

Glass frogs are fascinating but I have to say my favorite is the Malayan Horned Frog. They’re really beautiful frogs!”

 

Hermann smiled sheepishly. He was rarely open to other people about his passion for herpetology, let alone someone who he had just met. Usually when he brought it up in conversations, he was dismissed. Vanessa was one of the few people to listen to him talk about his passions. And apparently this kid on the internet now, too.

 

Now he was stuck again on what to reply. He considered calling Vanessa, but he decided against it. He felt like he had bothered her enough with this already.

 

“That aside, I’m really happy to hear about another person interested in the intersections of activism and science. As technology and populations grow it’s becoming increasingly important to study. This is partially why I’ve chosen to go into applied sciences: it’s a way to change the world directly. I really appreciate you reaching out to me, as well as your enthusiasm and I look forward to continuing our correspondences.

 

Regards,

 

Frogthot”

 

Considering the formality of the message, it was strange signing as frogthot. Hermann reread the message several times before hitting send. He exhaled and relaxed his shoulders. He had barely registered how tense he was until he had gotten the stressful part out of the way. Now, all he had to do was wait for a reply back.

 

10 minutes passed. Hermann didn’t know how long it would take for a reply, but it was nerve-wracking nonetheless. He decided it would be a good idea to go out for the day and try to burn some his anxious energy. He called Vanessa.

 

“Hey, Hermann! How ya doin’?” she answered cheerfully.

 

“I’m doing well, but I got a message last night.”

 

“Ooohh… from who?”  


“Their username is godzillagroupie. I just replied.”

 

“Oh dude, Godzilla is badass. That’s probably a good sign, right?”  


Hermann smiled. “Yeah, they seemed nice too. But I was actually wondering if you wanted to go out today? I feel really cooped up.”

 

“Yeah! totally. I’ll be there in a half hour. Sound good?”

 

“Yes wonderful,” Hermann said and bid goodbye. He decided lunch would be on him for Vanessa being so supportive of his endeavors.

 

\--

 

Hermann spent the afternoon with Vanessa. He was happily distracted from his phone and any potential replies waiting for him. That was until dinnertime rolled around and Vanessa had to leave to be with her family. She dropped Hermann off at home and wished him luck with texting godzillagroupie, something he had almost forgotten entirely. He thanked Vanessa and hurried inside.

 

Hermann greeted his parents, then headed to his room. Sitting down on the bed, he pulled his phone out. Surely enough, there was a notification from godzillagroupie. Hermann sighed and rubbed his face. Getting messages didn’t stress him out; rather, typing his reply was worrying. He opened the message and read:

 

“Dear frogthot,

 

You type like a total nerd, dude (is it okay if I call you ‘dude’? What pronouns do you use btw? Mine are he/him). Also sorry for the late reply cuz my sleep schedule is a little fucked.”

 

Hermann checked the time on the message. It arrived at 2 PM. hermann smirked. ‘Fucked’ may be an understatement. He continued reading.

 

“Anyway, I just moved to a new city and I have like. 1 friend? But I wanna meet more people so I figured why not go onto this forum. I’m mostly into biology and archeology and shit but I also really love mechanical engineering and music. I’m probably gonna have like 6 majors but that’s okay! I’m a senior too and I recently got accepted at MIT (not to brag). What about you though? Like I know you’re going to TU Berlin but like what are you passionate about beyond that?

 

\- godzillagroupie”

 

Hermann smiled sheepishly at godzillagroupie’s eagerness to get to know him. He never thought of himself as a particularly interesting person. He kept to himself and people rarely asked him questions, beyond for help on homework.

 

He typed a lengthier response, rambling about theoretical physics and frogs and engineering and whatever else came to mind. He surprised himself with how quickly he opened up to godzillagroupie. Hermann wasn’t sure if it was because of the anonymity or because of how honest godzillagroupie had been. It wasn’t long before they both ditched the letter format for their messages (although godzillagroupie did it first).

 

Either way, they quickly grew close, and their conversations grew more personal over the course of the summer. Hermann mentioned his birthday on June 9th, warranting “Wow dude! Happy birthday! Also happy worldwide knit in public day!” from godzillagroupie.

 

Hermann also started staying up later to wait for replies. Vanessa was very amused like this and claimed he had a crush.

 

“Just admit it! You got a crush on him!” she said while they were eating lunch one day.

 

“I don’t have a crush he’s just really nice to talk to,” Hermann mumbled. He shifted his food with his fork. How could he develop feelings for someone that he’s never seen before? And only in the matter of a couple months?

 

“Hey Hermann, I’m kidding but I _am_ really glad you’re meeting some nice people. It’s what you deserve, yanno?”

 

“‘Deserve’ is questionable, but it is nice, you’re right,” Hermann said. He had received messages from other people too, but no one else captivated him quite like godzillagroupie.

 

Later that night, Hermann was surprised to learn that godzillagroupie shared a similar sentiment. “Idk dude tell me if this is bold but honestly talking to you is more engaging than anyone else I’ve ever talked to. Maybe I’m just being cheesy though.”

 

Hermann’s heart leapt after reading that. Maybe Vanessa was a little bit right about him having a crush. For how flustered he was by that message, it was certainly a possibility.

 

Hermann echoed the sentiment and quickly changed the subject. He didn’t want to say anything that might throw off what they had going. Hermann was scared that he would ruin this somehow. He always had in past relationships.

 

The conversation shifted to music. Hermann played french horn in the band at school, but beyond that he didn’t know a lot about music. He listened to movie scores more than anything else. By contrast, godzillagroupie played guitar and piano, he was in his old school’s jazz band, and he intended to start a rock band in his new town.

 

“Idk dude it’s just like? As much as I love to play guitar for the band I kinda want to sing too, but we already have a singer. I’m probably not good enough to sing anyway,” godzillagroupie texted.

 

“I’m sure you’re a great singer,” Hermann replied. “Even if you’re not, you should still pursue what you love.”

 

“Yeah you’re right I'm just scared about it yanno? Do you wanna hear a cover I did?”

 

Before hermann could reply, the MP3 had already been sent. Hermann was slightly disappointed that it wasn’t a video instead, but nonetheless he clicked it.

 

“Here’s ‘Creep’ by Radiohead,” the recording started. There was soft acoustic guitar followed by hesitant singing. Hermann paused, realizing this was the first time that he really conceptualized how _real_ this was. Hermann blushed. He felt like a middle schooler.

 

He combed his fingers through his hair and played the recording. He laid back in bed and shut his eyes in an attempt to take the whole song in. godzillagroupie’s voice was gravelly, but he had a lot of control and a really wide range. Hermann smirked. The fears godzillagroupie had over his ability to sing were baseless.

 

When the climax of the song arrived, Hermann was taken aback by the emotion in godzillagroupie’s voice. Whatever reluctance he had shown at the start of the song melted away, and he sang with a passion that would rival that of Thom Yorke. After the song ended, Hermann reveled in the silence. He tried to imagine what godzillagroupie looked like. Probably like a stereotypical rockstar: tall, with messy hair and ripped jeans. It was a long shot, considering his age but hermann supposed he _could_ have tattoos, too. And maybe a little bit of stubble?

 

Hermann faltered. If godzillagroupie was even half as handsome as Hermann was imagining, then he didn’t have a chance. He didn’t want to think about being rejected right now, so instead he showered godzillagroupie with compliments on his singing.

 

“You’re incredibly talented! Your voice is beautiful, so please be kinder to yourself. Your band is lucky to have you.”

 

Hermann blushed, surprised at his own forwardness. Part of it could be attributed to how late it was getting, though. He bid goodnight to godzillagroupie, worried that he was coming on too strong. He played the recording again and fell asleep to the sound of godzillagroupie’s voice.

 

\--

 

Summer was drawing to a close, much to Hermann’s disappointment. With school starting, he would have less free time to text godzillagroupie. The season he grew to dread over the years made a miraculous turnaround this year, and ended too soon. Godzillagroupie was reassuring, though. “We’re still gonna talk, just less,” he said. “Like, yeah, it sucks but it’s not the end of the world.”

 

Hermann smiled at godzillagroupie’s endless enthusiasm and support. Hermann wished he could harness that hopefulness. He was worried that he would find someone else to talk to, or even forget about him entirely. Talking online meant that he couldn’t truly tell how serious the other was about continuing their relationship, despite their agreement to.

 

Coincidentally, they both started school on the same day, and Hermann wished godzillagroupie good luck at his new school. It was probably going to be a long day.


	3. monday you can fall apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> newt has arrived!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GOD im so sorry this chapter was late im a MESS! its a little bit longer than the other so hopefully that makes up for it. chapter title inspired by friday im in love by the cure

Hermann woke up early for the first day of school. He took time to make tea and happily greeted his dad and little brother, Bastien. His dad was a professor although he didn’t start school for another week, and he was especially grumpy about not being able to sleep in anymore.

 

After a small breakfast, Hermann retreated to his room to choose an outfit. He opted for dark jeans with a  _ Star Trek  _ t-shirt. He threw on a cardigan and loafers to complete the look. The cardigan was Vanessa’s suggestion. She was a much better dresser than Hermann, and he appreciated the fashion advice. Without her, he’d probably still be sporting pants he had outgrown years ago. 

 

He decided to straighten his hair today, something he had neglected to do over summer. This ended up being a mistake because his hair was too long, and it looked like he was 14 and back in his emo phase. He elected not to straighten his hair again until he got it trimmed. 

 

Hermann double checked his messenger bag for his school supplies, including his reading glasses, and headed out. His dad drove both him and Bastien to school. Hermann was still putting off getting his driver’s license. Driving was incredibly stressful and not something he was particularly skilled at, and he could afford to go without it until he moved back to Berlin for college.

 

Hermann was dropped off at school, and he went to his morning classes. It was especially boring now that Vanessa had graduated, but he didn’t let it sully his good mood. 

 

_ Why  _ was he in such a good mood, though? He should be missing his best friend, and wanting to text godzillagroupie. Maybe it was thanks to godzillagroupie. He had this to look forward to, despite having to wait. 

 

Finally the class he looked forward to most came. It was robotics, an advanced course Hermann anticipated for most of last year. His love for robotics ran deep, and the teacher, Mr. Pentecost, knew Hermann well. 

 

He walked in and scanned the room. It had the same set up as last year, with rows of tables (as opposed to the desks the other classrooms had) facing the Smartboard. Motivational posters decorated the walls. Hermann was one of the first kids to enter the room, and among the few familiar faces he saw someone he didn’t recognize. 

 

The kid was sitting in the front, and had one foot on the table, tipping back in the chair. Hermann noticed their bag, sitting on the table. It was adorned with buttons and pins, including bisexual and transgender pride flags, a button denoting he/him pronouns, and various movements, like environmentalism and LGBT rights. 

 

Hermann sat down at the other side of the room, still studying the new kid. He had short fluffy hair and had a leather jacket on over a graphic tee, and wore cuffed jeans and combat. He was small, and had a youthful face. Hermann guessed he was an underclassman. He wore thick rimmed glasses and wore a lot of jewelry, with his ears pierced several times and multiple rings and bracelets. 

 

He suddenly looked up, meeting Hermann’s eyes. Hermann quickly averted his gaze and scolded himself. It was rude to stare, even if the person in question seemed interesting. Luckily class was starting and Mr. Pentecost stood at the front of the room, ready to introduce himself. 

 

Chatter died down and Mr. Pentecost began reviewing the class syllabus. It was a stricter class, and he required a binder and would conduct checks on organization. Hermann, like most of the class, was happy to oblige, but this warranted a groan from the new boy. Mr. Pentecost raised an eyebrow at him, but continued to go over the syllabus. 

“We also have a new student this year,” Mr. Pentecost said after finishing the syllabus. “Newt, would you like to introduce yourself?”

 

Newt perked up. “Yeah! My name is Newton Geiszler, but call me Newt, and I’m a senior. I just moved here and my favorite subjects are biology and archeology, but mechanical engineering is really fun too. Don’t talk to me about dinosaurs or kaiju movies because you will be trapped for hours. Uhhh, yeah that’s all.” 

 

His voice was somewhat high and he spoke so quickly, he almost tripped over his words. Hermann was mildly surprised to learn he was a senior, given his seeming immaturity. But, Newt definitely seemed like a nice person, albeit loud and hyperactive. 

 

For the rest of class, Mr. Pentecost made the students get into groups to do a simple team-building exercise that he has all his classes do: building a tower out of straws.

 

Hermann always found the activity tiresome. Typically, few people wanted to be in his group, given his aloofness coupled with his dexterity in engineering. He’s been accused of being condescending, despite his best intentions. He figured he would be fine if he had to do the activity alone this time. 

 

As kids migrated towards their friends, Hermann remained seated and, putting on his reading glasses, drew a sketch of his plan. He was focussed on it enough to not realize Newt coming towards him, until he planted his hands on the table. 

 

“Wanna be in a group with me?”

 

Hermann looked up. From here he could see Newt’s bright green eyes and freckles. “Sure,” he said quietly. He suspected Newt was taking pity on him, but he ignored the tightness in his chest at the thought.

“I’m Hermann,” he said coarsely. He always hated introducing himself. He didn’t know how to carry himself around people he had just met. 

 

Newt stuck out his hand. “Nice to meet you!” Hermann took his hand and shook lightly. He noticed Newt’s hands were calloused, and his nails were short and had chipping black nail polish. 

 

Newt dragged a chair to the table and looked at Hermann’s sketch, eyebrows furrowed. He got up quickly and returned with supplies for the project. Hermann frowned at his impulsiveness. They could at least discuss what they plan to build before getting supplies.

 

Newt came back with what Hermann thinks is much more than enough for what they were making. As he passed the table, he tripped over Hermann’s cane and it clattered to the floor. 

 

“Oh shit sorry, dude,” he said, picking it up quickly. Hermann awaited the question he always dreaded when meeting new people:  _ What’s wrong with you?  _ He hated the question. It was so invasive, and would be even if he was okay with sharing personal information. But, Newt doesn’t ask, and instead begins to work on the project, taping together parts haphazardly. Hermann is secretly grateful, but now had to face the issue of the project. 

 

“We should really plan before building anything”, Hermann said. His words were icier than he meant to be. 

 

“Dude, why do you need a plan? It’s an easy build,” Newt replied. He was working quickly but the start of the tower was messy.

 

“So that we don’t waste materials? Even if it’s easy, I want to approach it in an  _ effective  _ way.”

 

Newt huffed. “It doesn’t even matter that much, though.” There was an edge to his voice, like he was goading Hermann on. “See look,” he gestures towards the base he was building, “all we have to do is build-” he gestures upward, visualizing the finished product, “-like that.” Newt was almost being condescending. 

 

Hermann didn’t appreciate being challenged. At this point, he would rather work alone. There was something about Newt that made him more defensive than normal, and he couldn’t put his finger on what it was. 

 

Hermann raised an eyebrow at the start of Newt’s tower. “There’s a better way to do that,” he said, nonchalantly. He meant it genuinely, because if Newt just looked at Hermann’s sketch-

 

“Oh my God, Hermann, you’re being so uptight,” Newt said. He was definitely teasing Hermann, but it wasn’t like how people normally made fun of him. He couldn’t tell which was more annoying.

 

“Please just go off the sketch,” Hermann said, clenching his jaw. Newt’s eyes darted downward. “And try to use less tape.”

 

Newt grumbled something about Hermann acting like a grandpa, but still obliged. Hermann decided to focus on building something independently of Newt. Class was almost over, but he needed to pass the time without having to deal with Newt more. 

 

As each boy finished their half of the tower, it became increasingly obvious the parts would not fit together. Hermann blamed Newt for it. It was clear he didn’t actually follow Hermann’s sketch. If Hermann had the opportunity to work alone the tower would have been fine. He wouldn’t have to worry about this project so much if Newt hadn’t joined him. Why did Newt even want to join Hermann in the first place? Hermann thought he had effectively closed himself off from being in a group. 

 

Hermann was the first to throw accusation of who messed the tower up more. “If you hadn’t started without me then we would have had a better plan for the whole thing.”

 

“You’re being a total hardass. This’ll be easy to fix lemme do it.” 

 

“I wouldn’t have to be a hardass about this if  _ you _ were more serious,” Hermann said in an angry whisper. 

 

“Oh, if only  _ Newt _ was more serious,” Newt said, imitating Hermann. Hermann would’ve laughed at his terrible impression if he wasn’t so  _ annoyed _ . Hermann scoffed and checked the time. Only a couple more minutes. 

 

Newt was able to attack the two halves, although haphazardly. The finished tower was almost painful for Hermann to look at. It was lopsided, and the difference in the work each did was obvious. Despite all this, Newt was still proud of the work they did. This utter disregard for perfectionism had to be the most annoying thing Newt’s done yet. 

 

As class ended, Newt left and cheerfully thanked Hermann for being his partner, as if they haven’t spent the whole class squabbling. He was gone before Hermann could acknowledge it.

 

As Hermann finished packing up, Mr. Pentecost walked over to talk to him. Hermann really liked him. He was calm and composed, and someone you could come to during a crisis. Hermann knew him well, he’s had classes with him for 4 years now. 

 

“Hermann,” he started, “I know Newt is not always the most tolerable, but please try to get along with him.”

This threw Hermann off. Why was  _ he  _ the one being warned about this? Newt had started this all. The disbelief must have shown on his face because Mr. Pentecost tried to lessen the blow. “I’m talking to you now because I think you would be able to achieve much more if you cooperated. I know Newt because he’s friends with Mako and he’s a good person. And very smart. I’m going to ask the same from him so please don’t think I’m treating you unfairly.”

 

Hermann wanted desperately to counter this. He chose not to, out of respect for Mr. Pentecost. “I’ll try, but no guarantees,” he said. He couldn’t help it if Newt decided to be insufferable. 

 

Mr. Pentecost accepted it, and turned the conversation towards Hermann’s summer. They only had a couple more minutes to chat since passing period was ending soon, but the talk of summer reminded Hermann of godzillagroupie. Hermann left for his next class, English, which was followed by lunch. He had spent all morning thinking about what he could talk about with godzillagroupie, only to forget all about it during robotics. But, instead of spending the period daydreaming about him, Hermann couldn’t stop thinking about Newt.

 

Had he come off as too cold or mean? He knew he had a tendency to push people away but only if it was warranted. It was warranted this time right? Surely he wasn’t  _ that _ mean because Newt smirked at all of his comebacks, even the cruelest ones. 

 

Maybe he could give Newt a little more credit, too. After all, their project was a success, despite its ugliness. And he had gotten the tower to stand up, which was commendable. And without referencing Hermann’s plan. 

 

His thoughts were interrupted by his phone buzzing in his pocket. A text from Vanessa:

 

_ Lunch today? _

 

Hermann agreed. He had a lot to tell her. 

 

\--

 

“It sounds to me like you’ve met your match,” Vanessa said after Hermann finished venting to her about Newt. 

 

“My match? He’s insufferable that’s all there is to it,” Hermann said. He could admit Newt was smart but he was impulsive. Hermann decided that ultimately, it was better to plan anyway.

 

“Yeah, I mean he kinda sounds like a jerk-off. Mako is friends with him but she really doesn’t talk too much about him anyway.” Vanessa was dating Mako. Hermann was convinced they could rule the world if they wanted to. 

 

“I usually prefer not to use such a vulgar term, but you’re right, he  _ is  _ a jerk-off.”

 

Vanessa giggled at that and changed the subject. Hermann was happy to be talking about something else. He didn’t like how much he was still thinking about Newt. He didn’t understand why. It was  _ aggravating.  _

 

\--

 

The rest of the day was uneventful. Luckily, Hermann didn’t have any other classes with Newt. Hermann was looking forward getting home and being able to talk to godzillagroupie. It felt strange to go from texting for so much of the day to no texting for hours. 

 

Hermann texted first: “Hello! How was your day?”

 

He had to wait longer than normal for a reply. Nothing worrisome because sometimes things come up. 

 

Finally, his phone buzzed.

 

“It was okay. Yours?”

 

Hermann frowned. Normally godzillagroupie could talk for hours about his day. 

 

“It was good. Are you okay?”

 

He had to wait again for the reply. Something was definitely off and all Hermann could do about it was wait. He paced around his room to work off the nerves. 

 

“Yeah I’m okay! I was actually meaning to ask you something if that’s okay?”

 

Hermann’s stomach flipped. He sat down and ran his fingers through his hair. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what the question could be. He replied back confirming it was okay. The wait was shorter this time, only a couple minutes, but it was  _ absolutely dreadful. _

 

“Do you want to meet in real life?”

 

Hermann’s throat tightened. He contributed much of his comfort with godzillagroupie to being online and anonymous. In real life, Hermann was standoffish and aloof. He knew that godzillagroupie was seeing the best side of Hermann and he would be disappointed if they met. He might not even want anything to do with Hermann after seeing the kind of person he  _ really _ is. Hermann wrung his hands. How was he supposed to reply to this?

 

His phone went off again:

 

“You can say no if you want, I totally understand!”

 

Hermann sighed in relief. Maybe one day he would be ready but not now. He didn’t want to risk losing what he had. 

 

“I’m not ready to yet. I’m really sorry,” Hermann replied. He felt like a jackass for saying no. He was sure his anxiety was unwarranted and burdensome. 

 

When godzillagroupie was reassuring and comforting about it, it made him feel even worse. By all means, he should feel safe and even excited to meet. In an attempt to ignore the growing feeling of dread, he assured godzillagroupie that Hermann’s anxieties were all his own, and he changed the subject. Hermann felt like this bubble had been burst. He wanted to meet godzillagroupie, really, but he had never considered what that would mean for them. It was terrifying. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really hope it didnt show to much in this chapter that im a stem kid jfjgjg


End file.
